Scout or Yeti?

[ausspace87]

Test drive both. You will be surprised how well the Yeti drives, that would be my choice!

For the Subaru loyalists, you should probably go to the Subaru forum. There you can massage your egos and your regrets about buying the ugliest car on the road with the most technically backward engineering this side of a Proton... I just love Subarus...

Here we speak about Skoda.

[wai]

I guess my reason for thinking the Yeti would handle better is just that it 'looks' more like a 4WD with the higher stance. Conversly though, that really means it's probably not as safe since it has a higher center of gravity than the Scout, which would hug the road more.

The Yeti is 158 mm higher, however the bulk of the mass is really down where the engine and drive is, which would be little different. As for roadholding, again, overall height and centre of gravity are just two parts to it. You would probably be hard pressed to find that much of a difference in general use. I went from a Torana to a Hiace SBV and now have a Caddy Maxi Life. In general use, there was little between them, and the Hiace was definitely no slouch.

I am probably leaning to the Yeti because it will be easy to slip into any park,and spaces are getting microscopic now at the new ticky tacky box shopping centers springing up everywhere. I used to have a Festiva years ago and I could park that thing nose first anywhere, anyway. Never had to reverse park once!

I want to balance my desire for space against the practicality of driving for most of the time with just me in the car. On the other hand, I don't want to be shifting seats around in the Yeti every fortnight, no matter how easy it might be. I guess so long as I have enough room in the boot to fit the feed, I can always throw the groceries on the rear seats, which is what I do now if I only have a few things.

However, on the minor point of aesthetics, the Yeti is just plain weird and reminds me of an old Terios while the Scout has a more elegant look! Heh heh.

No matter what vehicle you have parking just takes getting used to.

Space appears to be important to you, so take a tape measure along with you and measure the space in the various configurations.

It is a "boxy" design but then that generally does give you the most usable space. On looks, you only have to look at a Yeti beside a Toyota Ruckus and a couple of other and the Yeti starts looking quite good!! There seems to be a cubist revolution going on.

I don't know if you have seen the show Drive It! from DW TV? It is actually a very good show if a little "German" . One thing they do when comparing load space in cars and vans is to use bottled water crates. This is where the usable space shows up compared to the manufacturer's claimed load space. Of course the more boxy the design will generally see you get more in it. Again, this is where the tape measure comes in.

For me, it would be the Yeti, but it comes down to a personal choice. After all, you have to live with it. You have to be a little remote from things. Set out what is important to you and compare that. Only then look at the other aspects. No point in the flashiest looking one if it can't do what you want it to do, and no point in getting something that is not pleasing to your eye when you can get something that meets all your key needs but has been take to with the ugly stick.

[Michelle]

Jake, I actually like the front, it's the square box at the end that seems to be stuck on that leaves me shaking my head. Although, as Wai said, it's the boxy design that equates to more room. One can't have everything I guess.

As I said though, aesthetics are a minor point. Oh my goodness Wai, you are right about the Ruckus, that thing is truly awful. Good name though.

I will take a tape measure. That is a good idea.

The dogs are really only taken all together in the car maybe once or twice a year, so, yes, I would still have to put the seats down no matter which car. I have to put the seats down now to take them so it's OK. I just don't want to have to do it regluarly. If the Yeti's and Scout's are easy 'one touch' that will be good as the Astra's are a source of frustration.

I haven't seen Drive It! but I did see Clarkson on Top Gear get a helicopter to land on the roof of a Yeti. Entirely pointless but fascinating to see! It's on utube somewhere. Probably someone has put a link to it in the forums here somewhere I expect as it's old news but I hadn't seen it before.

[Transporter]

Test drive both. You will be surprised how well the Yeti drives, that would be my choice!

For the Subaru loyalists, you should probably go to the Subaru forum. There you can massage your egos and your regrets about buying the ugliest car on the road with the most technically backward engineering this side of a Proton... I just love Subarus...

Here we speak about Skoda.

Not so fast mate, many people who own Skoda or VW in this forum, owned Subaru before and they mention it freely from time to time in here. No real harm to the original topic in that. Just for the reference the Subaru has no technically backward engineering as you mentioned. The boxer engine and they symmetrical AWD is excellent and almost bullet proof.

[PassatB6]

Good video review here from Carbuyer.com:

[backdoc]

How old are the dogs? If 50% of them are over the age of 6 buy the Yeti, if younger, buy the Scout.

[Jake02]

Not so fast mate, many people who own Skoda or VW in this forum, owned Subaru before and they mention it freely from time to time in here. No real harm to the original topic in that. Just for the reference the Subaru has no technically backward engineering as you mentioned. The boxer engine and they symmetrical AWD is excellent and almost bullet proof.

Like myself. I loved my MY02 Liberty; it was absolutely fantastic! I might be back there soon...

[backdoc]

Like myself. I loved my MY02 Liberty; it was absolutely fantastic! I might be back there soon...

I had the MY00 liberty. Loved it. Was a good looking car too. If they improved the look I'd go back.

[brad]

Like myself. I loved my MY02 Liberty; it was absolutely fantastic! I might be back there soon...

Don't do it Jake. I had a Gen2 RX & the car forum I help run is/was Subaru based (so many have moved on to other brands). Wife has just been assigned a 2010 Outback as her company drive & I'm really disappointed how they haven't kept up with a lot of features that are now standard on other makes. Sure the AWD is still great & the 2.5 is suprisingly nippy from a standing start but the gearbox is horrible (I think it's a CVT but haven't bothered to check).

Sales are up, so I guess the stuff that matters to me, doesn't matter to people that just want transport.

[Jake02]

Don't do it Jake. I had a Gen2 RX & the car forum I help run is/was Subaru based (so many have moved on to other brands). Wife has just been assigned a 2010 Outback as her company drive & I'm really disappointed how they haven't kept up with a lot of features that are now standard on other makes. Sure the AWD is still great & the 2.5 is suprisingly nippy from a standing start but the gearbox is horrible (I think it's a CVT but haven't bothered to check).

Sales are up, so I guess the stuff that matters to me, doesn't matter to people that just want transport.

Why does everyone underestimate me? Brad I'm not just a Skoda person I'm a car person and the reason I'm at Skoda is because the new Subarus are rubbish. You'll find no one more disappointed in them than myself because I couldn't have loved our Liberty any more than we did. Dad's been thinking of a new/new-ish car and a last-gen Liberty 3.0R Spec B wagon is high on the possible list, as is a new Yeti so when I say I could be back at Subaru I mean not at a new Subaru, rather an old Subaru (the best Subaru ever produced IMO).